Siren by Tricia Rayburn Page A

against my chest. I'd planned to head back to Betty's, since Louis had said he could use the extra help whenever I wanted to offer it, but finding Caleb came first. "Give me a few minutes."
    He stepped inside as I ran to the bathroom to speed-shower. I didn't know what had made him decide that today was the day to try to find Caleb, but whatever the reason, I was happy he wanted to include me. Not only would it be nice to have company, but a search led by him was guaranteed to take much less time than one conducted only by me; as Caleb's brother, he had to know where to look better than I did.
    Pretty Vanessa ...
    I'd finished getting dressed and was drying my hair when I heard Justine's voice. The mirror above the sink was cloudy from the shower, but something behind me had flashed brightly in its reflection--like a lit match, sparking silver instead of gold.
    The lake house was seventy-five years old. There was nothing shiny about it, especially not in the bathroom, which hadn't been remodeled since Dad bought the house in the late eighties. The tiles on the walls and floor were moss green, and the cabinets were dark wood with black handles. Anything that was usually shiny in normal, modern bathrooms, like the faucets and light fixtures, was dulled bronze.
    62
    I wiped the steam away with one hand. "You're losing it," I told my reflection. "About one hallucination shy of certifiable."
    One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand ...
    I froze. There was another flash above my right shoulder. Another between my left elbow and torso.
    You can look ... but he has to want to be found... .
    Her voice surrounded me like the cool early-morning mist rising from the lake, covering my arms and legs in the thin, gray film I could never wait to rinse off. I closed my eyes against it, against her voice and the image of her from the dream that still lingered, her skin purple and yellow, her hair falling like clumps of dark seaweed down her back.
    "Be right there, Simon!" I yelled in a pathetic attempt to warn away whatever was making me see and hear things.
    I knocked hard against the towel rack as I darted toward the door. The impact made me drop the brush I still carried, but I didn't bother opening my eyes to see where it landed. I left it where it was and groped ahead of me until one hand landed on the doorknob.
    My eyes snapped open as soon as my feet hit the hallway area rug. Running toward the kitchen, I felt the way I always did whenever I accidentally ended up the last in line while hiking with other people in the woods: like I wasn't really the last one in line.
    "You okay?" Simon asked when I skidded to a stop in the kitchen.
    63
    "Fine," I said, trying to smile. "Just excited to get started." I grabbed my purse from the kitchen counter and headed outside before he could say anything else. When he didn't follow me right away, I peered through the doorway.
    "I'm not sure when we'll be back, so I put the TV on," he said, entering the kitchen from the living room.
    I watched him jog down the steps. It hadn't even occurred to me to turn off the radio and lights before walking out the door. And instead of turning them off for me, the way other people might've for someone whose head was clearly somewhere else, he'd turned the TV back on.
    "So where are we going?" I asked after locking the door and hurrying after him. "Where do we start?"
    He quickened his step as we approached the Subaru, then pulled ahead of me to open the passenger's-side door. "The marina."
    As he closed the door and rounded the back of the car, I glanced around as if sitting there for the first time. Simon had bought the Subaru when he got his license, and for two summers he'd played chauffeur to our little group, driving us to the movies, Eddie's Ice Cream, the miniature golf course. But this was the first time it'd ever been just the two of us. It felt strange to sit in the front without the car bouncing up and down as Justine and Caleb climbed in the